White Ribbon Alliance welcomes the report by Save the Children into the state of the world’s mothers. It’s another strong reminder that we must invest in women and girls if we are to have healthy societies. Providing the right health care services for mothers is the best way to ensure that they and their children survive.

As Melinda Gates says, “Any report on the state of the world’s mothers is by definition a report on the state of the world, full stop.”

It’s a scandal that giving birth is still the biggest killer of young women in many countries. When mothers die, girls are often pulled out of school to keep the home going. They lose their childhood and may become mothers while they are still children themselves; those who give birth before their 15th birthday are five times more likely to die in childbirth . . .